


The Rule of Mages

by Effenay



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Blood Mages, Blood and Gore, Gen, Mages, Medieval Fantasy, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 07:33:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8789164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Effenay/pseuds/Effenay
Summary: In the Reign of Kings, Gildaar fell into decline. In which the world of mages and the endowed are at odds with each other. Blood mages seek for the blood of the endowed as the endowed are served as sacrifices to the Paratine knights and its Kings. Set in the world of the Mystic Isles.





	1. Idellel's sentiments

The understanding of life can vary in many different aspects; to kill or be killed; to love and be loved; to need and be needed; to survive despite the many obstacles on the road. Opris denies each aspect as she lived her life for the past four years, living like a walking corpse that has been animated by strings. She fall asleep when she tires; she wakes whenever she is rested enough. Opris knew enough about what kind of life she would be heading if she wasn’t going to do a thing about her lifestyle. But to Opris, none of it mattered anyway.

It has been twelve years since the fall of the last Telenar rule; it was the year 58 of the Reign of kings. Days before the discovery of the new Telenars arose to power, Opris disappeared from everyone’s lives, mine included. At the time, I knew little of Opris; all I understood was that she was never the same by the time she was 18 years of age.

By the time she came back, her eyes wavered when she spoke to me.

“How long has it been,” I said, smiling at the sight of seeing my old friend.

“It has been a while isn’t it?” Opris answered, smiling back. Her eyes betrayed her mouth and voice, for they show no sign of joy.

My grin fell into a frown, saddened and concerned at the changes that I saw before me. The girl that I once knew was less of a face of a puppet, but in her eyes I knew that she had a face that says; “I have seen hell”.

“You must have gone through a lot,” I said bluntly.

“I guess I have,” Opris admitted, her eyes shifted to the direction of the sky.

 _I wonder what had happened_ , I thought at the time, but stashed my curiosity into the back of my mind.

There were so many things that I found out since that day. At a day and age where mages ruled the land; the Telenars of Paratine in the year 58 of the Reign of Kings introduced the art of blood incantations. I found out that my friend Opris was one of the few who survived the sacrificial rituals in the offering of blood to the Kings of Paratine.

“You cannot be serious!” I said, outraged and angered after hearing Opris’s account. I looked up at Opris’ face; her eyes deprived of life.

“How can you be smiling,” I asked, my eyes watering at the thought. “How can you take everything that has happened so lightly?”

Opris widened her grin as her eyes reflected her sadness. In the past, she always smiled before the people whenever she was troubled. Whether she had the intention to hide it or by habit, never once has it brought me to tears.

It was at that point where I held her and embraced her hard.

“It must have been so hard on you,” I murmured.

“Yeah,” she whispered and embraced me back.

That was the last I have seen of her. Opris; a friend whom I knew little about. And yet I was one of the few people who were told of the blood incantation sacrifices. A week after her arrival, she died from blood loss and exhaustion after the incident of the blood incantation rituals and her journey back to her home town. It pained me more knowing that she died without experiencing an inch of happiness; but because I knew little of her, I knew little on how to grieve for a friend whom I only see, hear and speak little to.

The days pass and the world moves forward. As each day passes, my account with Opris becomes less and less important but remained in the corner of my mind; calling me to never forget. Days on end would come when I stopped thinking about her, only to be reminded by the crests of blood that occupied the streets. Every time it happens, I felt that I was given retribution for living another day as if her account was nothing. Many tell me to move forward. Guilt tells me that it is a sin to take a step forward.

It has been twelve years since then. Twelve years forward is when our story begins.


	2. Conversations

Leviana took out her wooden sword and inscribed an incantation spell with a dagger. Inscribing the incantations onto an object was one thing, but to enchant the object was no doubt impossible. Ever since the approval of blood incantations, many mages emerged from the surface and experimented on the versatility of the method of incantations. Leviana was not a mage, nor did she have the intention of becoming one. However, she was fascinated of their method of using incantations to draw out various abilities rather than a singular field of abilities; seeing as she was not satisfied with her own inborn endowment.

“According to Matron Korash, the theory behind the incantation works like this,” Leviana explained with great enthusiasm, “Our bodies are designed to last for centuries, and that our longevity of our lifespan comes from the atmosphere of the Mystic Isles that holds a dense amount of power; or as Matron Korash described it, a force known as ‘essence’. The method of Paratine magic was to harness this power from the essence into our bodies and into our systems and then into our bloodstream. When this happens, the incantation tattoos on the mage would draw out the essence energies from the bloodstream and the mage is then able to materialise their desired ability. It is almost as if we are ‘sweating out’ the energies by our will power.”

“Wait,” Paru stopped her, “does that make mages more powerful than the endowed?”

“Exactly,” Leviana enthusiastically said, “Whereas we who are endowed have abilities that come out naturally, the mages harness their abilities from the direct source of power; blood.”

“Raw power,” Paru nodded.

“Yes. The source of endowment is blood!” Leviana stood up, riled up by the revelation. “What better method there is than blood itself.”

“If that is the case,” Paru pointed out, “then what’s with the incantations on the wooden stick?”

“Wooden s _word,_ ” Leviana corrected, “I had a thought that could shake the entire kingdom: you know what I said about how blood is the resource of power?”

Paru nodded.

“Well,” Leviana began, “What if we extend the incantations onto objects? For as long as the mage holds onto the object and that the object has the incantations; the object could act as an extension of the mage’s hand.”

“But how does that work?” Paru bluntly asked.

“I don’t know,” Leviana admitted, “But I will find a way.”

“So, how are you supposed to make that happen if blood is the source of Paratine magic?” Paru rubbed the question on Leviana. “What is the use of drawing out incantations onto objects if the object doesn’t even have a life in it?”

“Ah, well,” Leviana stuttered. “It’s a working progress. Like I said, I will figure things out to make it happen.”

Leviana was an artist of sorts, a squire of a master-craftsman. Although her skills were an equal to a child, Leviana’s master Idellel was patient enough to see through her training. Five years after the blood incantation decree, Leviana was sent under the guidance of Idellel to the Dragnoth division of kings; stationed at the kingdom of Hera to work as a master-craftsman.

“I appreciate your ideas,” Idellel said to Leviana as he stared at the diagrams on the scroll, “There are flaws to it though. Inscribing incantations onto the objects is a good decorative technique, but the problem is that they will serve little use if that were the case.”

“I am aware of it,” Leviana admitted, “But I thought that if there was ever a chance that we were to create an object that could be manipulated by a mage’s power, using incantations is the only method that could be used to make this happen.”

“But we are not experts, Levi,” Idellel sighed, “We are mere artisans, I moved away from the capital for this reason alone.”

“But think about it, Master Idellel,” Leviana urged her master, “Think about how much you could earn! If someone was to achieve the unachievable, it could only be you. We could earn a profit for this!”

“I do not want to earn a profit from a mage’s money bag,” Idellel shook his head. “Do you know that there is a price to pay if you were to achieve this?”

“What do you mean?” Leviana leaned her back against a column.

“Magecraft is something that is unnatural,” Idellel chided, “It is an art that will only lead to the destruction of many nations. To say that it is effective is no lie; the problem is that they have to pay the price with their own bodies.”

“Their own bodies?” Leviana asked as she tilted her head to the side, “What makes you say that?”

“A life of a mage is difficult,” Idellel answered, “It is easy on the first step, but the constant use of power will drain you easily. Logic tells me that by the use of their own blood will only lead them to a dangerous lifestyle, health-wise.”

Leviana bit her lip; she had always hated her Master for treating her like a child. Her parents sent her away from the capital in order to keep her away from the rising problems since the new Telenars rose to power. Leviana understood that political tension was inevitable due the absence of the Oracle who has disappeared for decades, leaving the country divided into the division of Kings, hence the era of the Reign of Kings.

“Why are you so sour about these mages Master?” Leviana darted.

“Not that I am sour about them,” Idellel lowered his tone of voice; “I just don’t like to see people walking down the path that will inevitably bite you back in one way or another.”

“What do you mean?” Leviana pressured him.

“What I mean is that a lust for power will only lead to failure at the end of the road,” Idellel said, “if you still want to expect a nicer answer from me, well, think again.”

“But this is the only method to make the unendowed at the same level as the endowed!” Leviana persisted.

“There are fates that serve purpose to all who are born,” Idellel mercilessly interrupted, “the Lord of Life does not grant things that we cannot carry. That is illogical and most certainly ridiculous if it were otherwise.”

“Are you saying that the purpose of the unendowed was to yield to the powerful?” Leviana said accusingly.

“No,” Idellel corrected, “I am saying that there are some things that should not be tampered with if they wish to pursue a life that involves less bloodshed.”

“Excuse me,” a faint voice was heard from the direction of the shop stall. “Is anyone there?”

“Just a moment!” hollered Idellel as he strode away from the backroom as he carried the girl’s scroll; leaving an unsatisfied Leviana sitting on top of one of Idellel’s hand-crafted chairs.

“… He took it,” Leviana mumbled, “I bet he will inevitably send it to the fire-pit.”

Leviana’s thoughts then ran wild, coming up with scenarios of ways to outwit her master’s rebuttal. Leviana then turned to the inscription carved onto her wooden sword.

 _Purposes in life?_ Leviana scoffed, _since when does fate play a part in life?_

“Levi, give me a hand here,” Idellel interrupted Leviana’s thoughts.

With a dissatisfied scoff, Leviana hastened to the backroom exit. As soon as she entered the shop stall, her eyes widened at the sight of the customer, or what she had presumed was a customer.

“This girl is in need of attention,” Idellel instructed Leviana with ease. “Do not let her out of your sight. If something is to happen here, you know what you need to do.”

“Master Idellel…” Leviana muttered, horrified at the sight, “how is this even possible?”

Drops of blood splattered the greystone floors, dampening the dust in scarlet liquid. The girl’s eyes were cold and lifeless; her hands trembling as she held a large marble sphere. Her clothes where soaked in scarlet red stains. Leviana covered her mouth with her two hands, stifling a cry.

“Master Idellel,” the girl said in a small voice, “the 17th knight of Hera requested that this sphere should be placed in your care. He has also sent me a message to give to you; ‘there is no haven left if you wish to decline the order.’ He told me that you know what he is talking about.”

 _But there are no 17 th knights in Hera, _Leviana thought, _there are only 15 of them._

“If I recall correctly, there are 15 nobles in the kingdom of Hera,” Idellel said, seemingly unfazed at the sight of the girl, “two noble families lost their nobility three decades ago.”

“The 17th knight requested that you have to come back,” the girl insisted, “‘to avoid the tragedy to repeat itself twelve years ago’, he said.”

“There must be a mistake,” Idellel shook his head, “I am not connected to any knight at all.”

“But you are the master-craftsman, are you not?” the girl asked, her voice sounding more hoarse.

“Yes, I am a craftman,” Idellel said, “but I do not know anyone connected to a noble family.”

“There is no mistake,” the girl’s voice croaked.

“There has to be,” Idellel insisted.

“It must be you,” the girl’s voice broke. “There is no mistake.”

“I am sure that there is,” Idellel raised his voice, “I am but a mere craftman!”

“If you insist that is so,” the girl’s voice began to sound distorted, “Then there is no haven left for you or your friend.”

Without any hesitation, Idellel knocked the marble sphere from the girl’s hands, causing her to collapse to the ground. The girl coughed and regurgitated blood on the graystone floor; Leviana gasped at the sight, her heart palpitating.

“Leviana, you have to help me here,” Idellel said, crouching down beside the spewing girl.

Leviana jerked at her master’s command and instinctively followed Idellel.

“This girl… she’s dead,” Idellel said bluntly.

Leviana’s face grimaced.

“Rather… she’s supposed to be dead,” Idellel added, half-chuckling, half-scoffing.

“How can you be so calm about this?!” Leviana angrily said, disgusted at her own master’s smirk.

“I am not calm about this,” Idellel said as he pursed his lips. “I need you to find the source of the problem in her body. Usually, puppeteers would often ebb a charm or some sort of crest into a corpse to manipulate them. So I am asking you to find it.”

Leviana hesitated, “I can’t do it,” her voice quavered.

“Levi, you have to do this,” Idellel pleaded urgently.

“I can’t,” tears began to break out of her eyes.

“Please, you have to,” Idellel repeated in a woeful manner this time, “This is a matter of life and death.”

The girl moaned in pain and pushed her abdomen with her arms; groaning as she spewed out a sickening substance. The sight sickened Leviana.

“Levi,” Idellel said in a hardened voice.

Leviana closed her eyes and rested her hand onto the girl’s spine. She took a deep breath and exhaled; her free hand trembled. Idellel took her hand and squeezed it.

“Calm down,” Idellel assured; “just find the source.”

Leviana took another deep breath. Opening her eyes, she placed her index finger and thumb onto the sides of the girl’s neck. Leviana felt the faint pulse in the girl’s neck.

“Can you find any crests?” Idellel asked.

Based on her past experiences of using her endowment, Leviana would often sense a burning sensation whilst finding the source of pain from the ill individual no matter how weak their pulse was. Leviana called it ‘life-embers’. Leviana felt the girl’s life-embers weaken from her two fingers.

“… We’re losing her,” Leviana said urgently. “If she’s dying, I can’t find the binding crest.”

“Can she be saved?” Idellel asked anxiously.

“…” Leviana couldn’t bring herself to answer.

Leviana closed her eyes and moved her two fingers to back of the girl’s head. _Where is it?_ Leviana thought desperately, _where is the source of the drain?_ Within an instant, the image of two rings flashed in her head.

“Did you find it?” Idellel asked.

“The crest is…” Leviana gravely said, “It’s disappearing. It is as if… it’s converging with this girl’s life-embers!”

 “Where is it?!” Idellel asked in great urgency.

“The source is…” Leviana shut her eyes hard as she sought for the source of the life-drain. “The left eye… The source is in her eye!”

 The girl whimpered. Tears flowed out of her eyes. Idellel grabbed the girl by the chin and inspected her eye. Without any hesitation, Idellel placed the palm of his hand onto the girl’s left eye. The girl made a stifled cry.

Leviana couldn’t bear to watch as she expected the worse and shut her eyes.

The girl howled in pain; the sound of a splatter was heard.

“No,” the girl pleaded. “No. no, no! Please, no!”

Idellel said nothing.

Leviana covered her ears and crouched into a ball. _Don’t interfere,_ she said to herself, _don’t interfere, you know what he’s doing. Don’t interfere._

The girl gave out a blood-curdling shriek. Her voice cracked until there was none left.

Leviana’s body trembled as she dug her fingernails onto the skin of her ear till it bled.

 _Don’t doubt him now,_ Leviana kept telling herself, her body twitched as she heard a slimy object sloshed to the floor, _He’s done this before, didn’t he?_

The girl made a voiceless cry.

“I am sorry,” Idellel said, “I’m going to stop the bleeding now.”

The girl wheezed in panic, unable to produce a sound.

Leviana ducked her head onto her knees, trembling as she recalled Idellel’s methods of closing wounds in the past. This time, she couldn’t bear the thought of seeing her master doing the same method onto a girl’s eye.

Leviana sneaked a glance at Idellel and the girl. She saw Idellel lift two fingers and reached for the girl’s eye socket. The very sight made Leviana nauseous and kept her eyes shut once more.

The girl’s panting hastened. Leviana imagined the girl going wild at Idellel’s treatment. The wheezing hastened for a while.

Idellel gave out a long breath, “I’m glad,” Idellel panted, “I managed to get there in time… Levi, it’s done. You can open your eyes…”

Idellel didn’t finish his sentence. Leviana felt a hand touch her hand that clawed her ear. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a bloodied hand on hers. Instinctively, she slapped her master’s hand away and stood up.

“Ah, sorry,” Leviana said after she realized her actions. She looked at the girl crouching on the floor and saw her master who knelt beside the girl. The girl breathed heavily.

“Is she…” Leviana couldn’t finish her sentence.

“She’s going to be okay,” Idellel assured.

In that instant, the girl rolled to her side on the floor, unconscious.

Leviana jolted. Idellel gave a blank stare and sighed.

“It must have been too much,” Idellel muttered and picked up the girl in his arms.

“Uh,” Leviana stuttered, “What are you going to do?”

“She has to rest,” Idellel replied, “I might have crossed the line this time.”

“Crossed the line,” Leviana echoed Idellel dubiously; “You’ve always been violent with things like this!”

“Don’t judge my methods when you haven’t even seen how I saved her life,” Idellel said, “Either I save a life this way, or lose one.”

Leviana bit her lip as she eyed the floor. A mix of scarlet and a sickly green colour created a small pool on the graystones. Leviana turned her head away and shivered.

“Levi,” Idellel said in a solemn manner, “Can you clean this girl up for me? I’ll take care of this mess.”

Leviana jolted at her own master’s voice; her heart palpitated as she panted. “…Oh,” she finally said, reluctantly obeying, “I guess we should deal with this matter before a customer shows up.”

“I’m sorry you had to endure it again,” Idellel rested his clean hand on her shoulder.

Leviana eyed the bloodied hand. Idellel seemingly noticed Leviana’s gaze; he moved his hand behind his hand, hiding it from her line of sight.

“We’ll talk about this later, okay?” Idellel continued in a light-hearted manner. This had only brought more anxiety than comfort for Leviana, who nodded and crouched beside the girl.

“…I doubt that she would be too heavy for you to carry,” Idellel added.

Leviana said nothing and slung the girl’s arm around her shoulder and stood up.

“…How is this even possible?” Leviana said in a hoarse whisper, almost dumbfounded at the realisation. The girl’s weight was no heavier that a rucksack filled with fallen branches.

“I suspected as much,” Idellel declared as though he knew exactly what was going on.

Leviana darted a dubious look at Idellel. Idellel brushed off Leviana’s gaze and said; “As I said before, we’ll talk about this later.”

Leviana turned her heels towards the backroom entrance, bringing the girl along. Despite her weight lighter than any normal being, the girl’s weight was nonetheless heavy as a rucksack, which brought troubling matters for Leviana’s case. Most often, Leviana would rant and pout aimlessly when she was requested to do such menial tasks; however, after the shock of Idellel’s stunt, she lost the energy to even attempt to complain for she was still overwhelmed by it.


End file.
